Puzzle Pieces
by hymuk
Summary: A series of one-shots and drabbles about Petra Ral and Levi Ackerman covering all the moments in between.
1. Soulmates AU

_Based on prompt where your soulmate's first words are tattooed on your wrist_.

Petra was twenty-one, and she was starting to think that she might never find her soulmate. The words imprinted on her wrist, written in a scrawl corresponding to her partner's handwriting, read _And her?_ It was the most basic set of first words that she could ever imagine. What's worse, she didn't know in what context she'd ever hear those words. She heard it almost everyday. Plus, it wasn't something specific like what her friends had-Hanji's said _You're going to burn the building_ , and that's how she found Moblit. Nanaba's said _This is a bike lane_ , and she met Mike when she was going for a run in the park. Hell, she even knew a kid who found his soulmate when he was sixteen and in high school.

There are about 1.5 billion English speakers, and a zero percent guarantee that she'd ever find them. She knew how common it was for people to give up when they passed their late twenties, and just pair up with other people who never found their loves. Sometimes if they were lucky, they'd find them sometime in their lifetime, but there were still so many people who died without ever finding out who they were matched up with.

She slumped even further into her seat. She was dating someone. His name was Lionel, and he was perfectly nice. Her first words had matched the one on the inside of his wrist ( _Sorry, I'm lost_ ), and he had stopped her before he could say anything else by kissing her firmly on the lips. It was more shocking than it was romantic, and when he pulled away, he said, "It's you."

It took her a few minutes to tell him, to muster up the courage, to tell this poor guy that her words didn't match what he said. And by the time she told him, he had coerced her into following him into a Starbucks and sitting down for a drink-to get to know each other better. She tried to ignore the crestfallen look on his face when she'd told him that, and had bit her lip, her whole body tensing as she watched him looking dejected across the table.

"Maybe we could try it out," he said, his face full of doubt. "If you don't find them, maybe we could still be together. Sometimes there are flukes like these-there's all those stories about how one person has the words but not the other. And sometimes they're happy together." He looked around nervously, shifting in his seat. "That is, until you find them. It could be like an open relationship, maybe."

Petra watched him. He seemed nice. Was undoubtedly good looking, and seemed smart enough. She paused. "Alright." His face instantly lit up.

They've been dating for seven months.

As open as they initially said it would be, that didn't mean that Petra was constantly talking to people, flirting, going out and searching for _the one_ , quite literally. She'd grown tired, in all honesty, and she was starting to get used to being with Lionel. She liked the lazy kisses in the morning, and the way that he would greet her when she came out of her psychology lecture, a shot of espresso in hand. She was beginning to accept that she might not find her mate, and that Lionel was just about the next best thing. She had yet to hear the words matching on her wrist (or moreso have someone say that she just said the ones inked on theirs), and Lionel hadn't heard anyone say her words since.

"They say that the longer you're with your love," Lionel had said one morning, "The more faded your tattoo becomes. Sometimes it takes months, years. Other people have theirs become just vague imprints after a couple of hours."

Petra had been lying in his bed, head on his naked chest. She remembered how he rubbed circles into the side of her body, and how despite his warm, comforting presence, she'd felt cold in the immediate seconds after he'd mentioned that.

"A lot of people fall in love," Nanaba said to her in the cafeteria. "Even if it's not with their soulmate, it doesn't mean you can't love someone else."

"Yeah," Mike added, his arm firm around Nanaba's waist. "A lot of people say that it's because there's a little bit of soul-mate in them. Or that you had a chance to fall deeply in love with them in past lives, but you chose someone else."

Petra glanced up from her decrepit scrambled eggs, eyeing the both of them. "Easy for you to say. You've already found each other."

Nanaba laughed. "True enough."

"When are you getting married?" Hanji piped up.

The two looked at each other, uncertain. "We're not sure… we were thinking about maybe pursuing other loves first." Petra's eyes widened at Mike's words. "It's just," he added quickly after, "It's just we've been together for so long, and we know we'll always be there for each other it might… it might just be nice to see what it's like with other people too."

Petra turned back to her eggs. Depressing enough that her friends had already found their loves. Even more depressing that they could go date other people. Petra couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do if she had found her love…

She couldn't stop thinking about it when Lionel greeted her back at his apartment on campus, and she felt bad because of it, but she knew that he recognized the look on her face. Before he'd tried to console her or stay away, but what he learned was that she liked to treat it like nothing was wrong. So he kissed her, asked her about her day, and settled into the couch next to her. But it was like he was on a whole different frequency, and Petra couldn't hear his words. It was like they were underwater, and she didn't understand what he was saying, because she was thinking about her soulmate. She kissed him, effectively cutting off his words, then laid her head back into his lap, and stared at the ceiling.

Hanji invited her to a party the next evening. As much as Lionel and her were close, he wasn't close friends with her's. So he opted to stay back and finish some work while she went to the frat house party. Petra had been to many like these-especially before she'd met Lionel and was hoping she'd find her soulmate there. She used to try to talk to as many people as possible, and would subconsciously scratch at her tattoo, as if checking whether or not it was still there. But now, it wasn't half as exciting. She let herself be dragged in tow by Hanji, greeted by the same smells of alcohol, smoke, and sweat as they walked to the kitchen. There, she was surprised to see how many of her friends, and Hanji's friends were there. They surrounded the island, decked out with food and drinks, consuming it at an unhealthy rate. Mike, Nanaba, Moblit, Erd, and Gunther all chorused their hellos, drinking and swinging around in a drunken daze. They were laughing and shouting at each other, shoving pretzels into their mouths. Petra took a shot when Erd offered it to her, if only to stop being disgusted by them and instead just act as drunk and out of it as them. She was taking a second shot when she noticed Erwin walk into the room. There was a time when she used to hear about him from Hanji and she used to hope that he would be _the one_. But when she met him, it was as disappointing as you'd expect. Still, that didn't stop her from staring at him every so often and letting her thoughts drift. But tonight, through her drunken haze, her gaze slipped from him, and spotted a shorter black haired guy walking with him. He was hot. His features were striking-from his hair, to his jawline, to his dark grey eyes. She'd never seen him before, but _god_ , she really wanted to again. Petra couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this attracted to someone she'd just seen, and she immediately tore her gaze away from him when his eyes met hers. She suddenly felt self conscious, and was glad that she'd made some effort to look good tonight. _Not that it would matter_.

Erwin greeted everyone around the island, and grabbed a handful of pretzels, feeding them into his mouth. He drifted seamlessly into their conversations, and Petra watched as his friend gazed at the rest of them, staying silent, for the most part. It wasn't until Hanji forced the two of them to come over to their side, and begin chattering to the both of them excitedly.

"Levi," Erwin said, referring to the guy next to him. "You know Hanji."

"Unfortunately more than I care for." his voice a deep baritone.

" _Leviiii_ -" Hanji sang.

Erwin continued by doing the rounds, introducing (or re-introducing) for that matter, everyone for formality's sake. When they got to Petra, Levi raised his bottle towards her, pointedly holding her gaze.

"And her?"

"Petra," Erwin responded, smiling.

"Oh, she can talk too." Petra said, giving him a forced grin, annoyed that he wouldn't just talk to her directly. "But I don't suppose you would care much."

She took another shot, missing the way Erwin's grin widened slightly, or Levi's eyes narrow just a fraction. Levi watched her throw the glass back, and caught a glimpse of the words scrawled on her wrist.

Petra woke up nursing a headache. Light streamed in from the window across from her, and she closed her eyes in annoyance. She was hungover. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten this blackout drunk. She struggled to remember what happened last night, but she couldn't remember anything past meeting Levi-Erwin's friend. The hot one. _Right_.

But when she turned to pull the sheets under her, she realized that these weren't her sheets… or Lionel's, for that matter. She turned on her side, and her nose brushed against Levi's. His eyes opened lazily, and she noticed, when he rolled over to wrap his arm around her stomach, that he was naked. And so was she.

Her face became hot when she realized what happened last night, and she struggled to remember the details. Her heart pounded, with worry, but also with this undeniable sense of excitement. She glanced down at him, and was shocked when he kissed her. It was gentle, and asking, but god was it fantastic. She almost found herself kissing back, until she pulled away, sitting up. She struggled to pull the sheets to her chest.

"I-uh, I don't-" she struggled for her words, and began to trip on them more when he met her gaze, his arm still on her stomach.

"You don't remember," he stated.

"I… no…"

He looked at her, almost frustrated. "Didn't realize that you were so drunk. Or that it would happen this way."

"This… what way…" she watched as he lifted his wrist, showing her the ink embedded in his

skin, then ignored the way her heart began to race and her skin burn when she felt him lift her wrist up next to his own.

"Us, we're…" he paused, uncertain how to continue. "This is us."

Petra's cheeks turned red, and she sat up, ignoring the sudden head rush she felt. "No, no, I…" Petra turned back to face him. His expression was near blankness, but Levi watched her with a mixture of amusement and disappointment. She was cute, but damn, this really wasn't the reaction he was expecting from his soulmate after first sleeping with her…

"I have a boyfriend." His heart dropped. There was a cold pause between the two of them, and Petra bit her lip.

"You… you do," it came out more as a statement than a question, a low rumble from his chest

that Petra appreciated.

"I… I do."

"You didn't want to wait?" Petra sensed the tinge of disappointment in his voice, and when she looked over at him, she saw that his gaze was back towards the bed, looking away from her. She watched him, this absolutely _gorgeous_ guy who'd she'd… just slept with apparently. But it wasn't just _any_ guy. It was her soulmate. He was, quite literally, _the one_. On an impulse, Petra fell back from her sitting position onto her side, and planted a soft kiss on Levi's cheeks, just shy of his mouth. She felt his hand trace its way up her jaw, fingers tangled in her hair, and he pulled her closer, so that their lips actually met. _He could get used to this_.

When she pulled away, slightly breathless, her cheeks tinted pink, he was tempted to kiss her again. But she stopped him before he could. "I mean, I _did_. I waited for you for so long, but I was afraid you'd never show up so I… settled. _And don't act like you didn't try either_."

Levi propped himself up on his elbows, glancing back at her. "What's his name?" he asked finally. "I want to at least know about this guy."

"Lionel. He's… he's very sweet."


	2. Sex Lives and Habits

Soldiers in the military often talked about their sex lives. It was a result of a certain indifference that stemmed from the realization and awareness of one's own mortality, mixed with sentiments of boredom and a curiosity for the taboo. Had it not been for joining the army, most of the soldiers here wouldn't have had the opportunity to mingle so freely with other people their age—many would've been limited to their own respective villages and towns, spending their days farming, working in their parents' shops, and waiting for a love that might never come.

The Survey Corps had a strict rule against dating other soldiers. It was a measure that was put in place to avoid everything from seeing soldiers sleep with their superiors to climb the ranks, to limiting the amount of casualties on the battlefield from lovelorn soldiers who watched their lovers bleed out in the grass. But as much as the squad leaders and captains preached this gospel to the rank and file during assemblies, Levi knew, that out of the commanders who had served, Erwin enforced this rule the least.

Levi spent more time in Erwin's office than he'd claim he'd preferred—sitting opposite his mahogany desk, one of the few luxuries the Survey Corps had been afforded by the king's government—listening to battle strategies. More often than not, he would be joined by other veteran members like Hanji and Mike. But Levi would also spend his days there, drinking tea, finishing paperwork. Enjoying his company when he had no one else. A cold and distant man. That's how he seemed to the young soldiers who would pass him in the meal hall. But those who survived long enough knew Levi more closely—they were the ones who had survived, who shared a common consciousness.

They would seek friendship, companionship in each other, and by virtue of understanding this—by virtue of himself enjoying the details of life, the ones that involved others, Erwin was lax about the strict no dating rule. And the soldiers in different squads began to pair up occasionally, seeking solace after a particularly rough expedition, or simply having someone to smile and stare at from across the field during training.

Erwin never talked about Levi's sex life. He didn't ask. He assumed he didn't have one. Hanji and Mike would speak freely at the table at meals, bored with other topics. Bored with the death, the drama, the mundanity of the town. They indulged in the topic, their voices loud, mingled with the conversations of others around the meal hall. Levi would listen, bored, his intrigue or curiosity occasionally piqued once they said something particularly forward. But he would rarely engage. That was before Erwin had assigned Levi a team and made him a squad leader. Erwin watched as the membership at his table dwindled. As Mike, Hanji, and now Levi went to their own respective teams to sometimes have meals as a group. He watched them laugh and push each other around the way they had at their own table, but the interactions were different. Slightly nuanced when he watched the way their squads, flush with respect for their leaders, would speak and joke with them. Ever so slightly. And this was most definitely true with Levi's squad.

A team of elite members of the Survey Corps whose memberships had all exceeded at least two years. Experienced, precise, deadly. They moved as one in training—Erwin had watched their practice, after all, he had picked them—and this carried itself off of the battlefield as well. Fierce sense of protectiveness for each other, a sense of comradeship that was impossible to find in the lower ranks and anywhere beyond the Survey Corps, and joy that came from people truly enjoying the company of the other people around them. They were the finest soldiers that the army had to offer, and they served under the finest captain that the army had ever seen.

Erwin sometimes made a bad habit of staying up through the night. Of sleeping a few hours during the day, and then staying up until the morning bells for breakfast. He would sit in the meal hall, enjoying the tall ceilings and empty room, and watch as the soldiers would file in for food. Sitting from his far table, watching the entryway, he would sip at his coffee in the morning, and observe the patterns of the soldiers coming in. He could tell a lot more about their personality, their habits, by the way they interacted with the staff, their appetite, and the others around them, and the time in which they entered the room. The order for Levi's squad would always be the same. Erd and Gunther would come down in the mornings first, alternating between each other who would come first, stretching their arms, grabbing food, and being the first to sit at their squad's table. Gunther never took much in the morning—some coffee, a piece of bread. He ate lightly in the mornings, at the table, it seemed, more so to engage with his comrades and wake up before the day's first set of training than really to eat breakfast. Erd, on the other hand, would pile his plate with as much as was allowed. He knew the kitchen staff was sneaking him a bit more food than the others—perks of being so deadly—and he would enjoy multiple slices of bread, multiple cups of coffee, and by the time the others were coming down, he'd already be eating another plate of food. They sat across from each other, accustomed to their own patterns, talking in spirited, but relatively low voices in the morning. He watched them smile and eat, chat and relax. Petra would usually come down next—around a half hour later, right before when the meal hall became crowded. She'd arrive around the same time as Mike. Ever the model soldier, Ral would step through the doors, looking prepared to fight. Her straps were already on, prepared for the morning's training, whereas Erd's would typically hang lamely at his sides. Her jacket rarely had a wrinkle, looking crisp and orderly, and she would be wearing a slightly more toned down version of her typical smile. Mornings, clearly, were not her thing. She would start with a cup of coffee, sitting next to Erd and enjoying the company of the two men, and right before the morning rush, she would refill her cup and grab a plate of food, eating slowly throughout the allocated time. By the time Petra would sit down, and the meal hall would flood with tan and white uniforms, Auruo would stumble in. He wore a scowl—though Erwin knew that in part it was to imitate Levi—and while his uniform would also be looking crisp and clean, he could tell that Auruo was exhausted, tired out from the night. He stood in line for food, eager to escape the chaos and sit opposite Petra, flirt to no avail, and join the rising noise coming from Squad Levi's table.

And Levi entered the room last. Erwin could never quite get his time of arrival correct. It fluctuated from day to day, depending on how much work he'd had, how much sleep he'd been able to scrape by with. He glided through the doors, and everyone in the room tried to pretend as if they hadn't noticed his presence. He skipped the line for food completely—he didn't eat in the mornings, a habit he'd developed since his youth—and when he arrived at the table, his soldiers stood at attention. Occasionally, Levi would've passed by Erwin's own table to muster a hello or mutter a few short words. But he always returned to his men. When Levi arrived, sitting at the head of the table, with Auruo and Petra Ral flanking him on either side, a new pot of coffee will already be in the process of brewing at the table–placed since he arrived in the room. The entire squad always took a last cup of coffee together in the mornings, prepared, as he'd heard, by Petra Ral herself. The squad indulged in her fine coffee making skills, an upgrade to the poor military grade sludge they offer in the mornings, and sometimes, he knew, they would chip in to buy the finer beans and grounds that would be imported in the shops and market stalls beyond the compound. Petra Ral would make the rounds at their table, always starting with Levi, and she would pour them all a cup, retaking her seat to Levi's right, and enjoying the warm cup of coffee in the morning. Despite being elites, and despite being able to draw from a serious place that new soldiers lacked, they were just as loud as the other tables around the hall. They laughed, slammed the table, and scolded each other. Even they were not limited those habits.

But today, was different. Erd and Gunther skipped through the doors first, taking their spot, and starting the squad's routine. That was no different. But Erwin was surprised when he noticed Auruo stumbling at the table first—before the squad's only female member. It was an odd break in routine, though he supposed that anomalies were to happen. Still, he couldn't quite shake it. The mess hall was full by the time Auruo began to eat. He would glance up every so often at their table, curious as to whether or not the members were aware of their very own habits and routine. Then Petra Ral stumbled in far later than she usually did. He watched as she joined the line for food, finishing the straps on her legs, oblivious to the other ones hanging by her arms' sides. She looked relieved to be in the line, and he watched as she grabbed a plate of food, ignoring the coffee initially, only to set her plate down at the table and rush back, remembering. The men were oblivious to her disarray, but commented on her clear state of relative disheveledness. He watched as Auruo said something, prompting the other men to laugh, and he watched as Petra Ral swung the palm of her hand across his face, leaving a stinging red mark. He began to turn his full attention to the table, amused at their situation, when he was surprised to notice Levi traipse into the room. He was earlier than usual. His expression was cold, empty, as usual, but he couldn't help but notice the slight nuanced shift that occurred once he was at the table. He took his spot, and the table turned their attention. There was no coffee, a break to tradition. He watched as Petra began to stand up, to go grab the pot that waited for them specifically, but Levi made a motion at her to sit down, and Gunther stood up instead. They talked, loudly, and he watched them battle amongst one another as they drank their coffee. Their interactions were more lively this morning, and as he ever so rarely did, he watched Levi join their conversation. The bell rang for the soldiers to leave, and one by one, the members of the table left their lively banter. The men left first, leaving Petra to finish her plate of food, and Levi his coffee. The mess hall emptied as soldiers looked to spend their twenty minutes before training, until few others were left besides him and Levi and his soldier. She polished off her plate, and Erwin watched as Levi moved to refill both of their coffee cups. They engaged in small talk—more than Levi had been talking with the group at first—and they seemed at ease with each other. From just around a year of being together, Erwin assumed. They chatted, Levi reclining back in his chair, Petra speaking increasingly animatedly. And then he watched as Levi leaned towards her, as Petra bent forward, and as Levi said something in a low voice to her. She smiled, laughing, then smiled at him. And Levi formed a small, slight smile in return. Then she cleared her plate, and just before she stood up, Levi cupped her face, and left a chaste kiss on her cheek. She beamed, stealing a glance around the room, then placed her fingers under his chin, kissing him on the lips in return. And then the two of them left the hall together for training.

* * *

"We never talk about _your_ sex lives," Erd said, stirring at his cup of coffee. Petra and Levi had just come into the hall, minutes apart from each other.

"What," Petra said, her mouth full with food. She swallowed hard, taking a sip of water. "Is that all you can really talk about? You might as well be twelve—or be one of those new soldiers, fresh out of training camp."

"Really," Gunther added, taking a sip from his own cup. "Whenever we talk about it, you're always so limited on what you say." He glanced over at Levi, debating whether or not to make the same claim about their captain. But Erd beat him to it. "You as well captain," Erd added.

Levi sighed, listening to the insolence of his squad. "You sound like children, Schulz and Ginn." He chastised them lamely, the table filling with their snickers and giggles. He stole a glance at Petra, thinking about the morning they'd just had. How he'd woken up, arm draped lazily over her stomach, feeling more rested than he had in weeks. How when he'd woken _her_ up, trailing kiss from her shoulders to her neck, hearing her let of out a groan of tiredness, only to switch to light giggles from his touch on her bare skin. She rolled over and kissed him deeply, running her hands through his hair, feeling the warmth of his body. And before he'd let her stumble out of bed, he'd pulled her back, eliciting a squeal of protest, rolling on top of her, enjoying the taste of her lips, even in the morning. And pressed against her, lips against hers, he whispered, _I love you_.

"I'm just saying," Erd continued. "You guys are definitely stiffing us on some good stories. There's no way that if even Bossard is getting some neither of you aren't." Erd took a sip of coffee. "Just saying."

"Yes, well." Petra sighed, speaking over Auruo's protests. "Maybe I just don't want to brag about my sex life that guys like you can only dream of." To that, the three of them laughed, hitting the table, protesting fiercely back against Petra, livening up the group's conversation. Levi watched as the only female member of his squad fought against the guys, as if they were all schoolchildren, and he felt a smile creep into the corners of his lips. He drank his coffee, still hot, and watching them, resisted the urge to brush away at the piece of hair that had fallen in front of Petra's face. Instead, he nudged his foot to his right, brushing against her own. She turned back towards him at the slight movement, and smiled—a knowing smile reserved just for him.

When the others cleared the table, they both lingered behind, talking softly. There was almost nobody else in the hall, and Levi felt more at ease alone with her. "Do you think they knew?" Levi asked.

Petra smiled, "I think they definitely suspect something. We came down together," Petra polished off her coffee, then shot him an accusatory glare. "And, _you_ made me _late_." Levi smiled, leaning forward, and spoke softly against the shell of her ear. "What, did you not like that?"

He watched as she reddened, but also as the smile spread across her face. She let out light laughter, and smiled at him. "You know I love waking up next to you in the mornings." She cleared her plate, but before she could stand up, Levi slid his hand into hers, pulling his hand up to cup her cheek, and left a chaste kiss, his lips brushing against her skin. Petra couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. He rarely did little affectionate actions. It was usually pulling her down a darkened hallway between training sessions to kiss her hard against the stone walls. Or a tug to the hips and a trail of kisses up her neck in the stables when the squad had stepped away. A visit at night to his office, to his bedroom. But this was new. It was soft. And she loved it. Petra glanced around the room, making sure nobody else was really there, and then placed her fingers under his chin, pulling him in for a deeper kiss, slipping her tongue in, enjoying his apparent surprise and eagerness when his hand moved to her waist, pulling her close. Petra smiled against his lips, then pulled away, smiling at him. And even though they didn't say anything, the message was clear. _I love you_. And then the two of them left together for training.

* * *

 _Accepting (and encouraging) requests—feel free to leave a message with ideas, prompts, etc._


	3. Soulmates AU Part II

_Continuation of Soulmates AU Part I Drabble_

"It's just a trial period," Petra said to Lionel as she rummaged through her closet. She'd left her wallet in one of her purses, but she couldn't figure out which one.

"A trial period," Lionel repeated from where he was seated on her bed. His voice sounded unconvinced, and there was a clear twinge of something there… regret? Fear? She felt bad having this conversation with him, and she'd been tempted not to even bring it up with him. She could've just ignored Levi and walked away before anything started, spent her time with Lionel instead. But until when? A few months when she would inevitably run into Levi on campus and feel something there? Or maybe until after she graduated college, so she could skip town and meet up with Levi somewhere else? And then there was the other option. Just break up with him and go find Levi. Lionel probably would've figured out why she had broken up with him. Even if she had managed to find some convincing reason to tell him at the time, it wouldn't have been long before he saw her with someone else…

"Yes, Lionel." She stepped out of her closet, a strap of a bag slung over her shoulder as she struggled to unzip it. "Listen," she said, distracted. "I just met him the other day, I _barely_ even talked to him." _Yeah, they hadn't_ talked _._ She had conveniently left out the part where she had slept with Levi already. "Anyways, who knows—we might not even really be soulmates." The instant she said the last word, she wished she could have taken it back. Lionel flinched ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly, and she felt bad. There was no guarantee that Lionel would find _his_ soulmate. She almost wanted to stay with him just to make him feel better—maybe it would be better if both of them were stranded in non-soulmate-dom together. _But that's ridiculous_. She opened up a bag and checked inside. _Nope_.

"Yeah," he replied, unconvinced. "You're right." He paused before continuing. "So when will you break up with me?"

Petra, her back turned to him once again, furrowed her brows, concerned by his blatant loss of hope. It made her want to sit down next to him and hug him. She tried to laugh. "I mean, there's no guarantee Lionel. We've been dating for months. The amount of time I've spent with Levi pales in comparison."

She grabbed a bag and tossed it to Lionel, as if asking for him to check inside. "And who knows about this soulmate thing." She gave him a smile. "Maybe it's not always right."

When he looked up at her from the bag, blankly without a smile in return, her expression faltered.

"Anything there?" She asked.

He looked up, meeting her eyes. "No, nothing here."

A break. That's what this was supposed to be. Lionel wouldn't see her unless she explicitly called on him—texted him, called him, waited outside his room—just so that Petra would be given enough space, proper space, to take the time to get to know Levi and see if everything felt right. Then, after the period of around two to four weeks, she'd let him know. It was a common occurrence. She'd heard about and known people who had done it before. And as far as Levi was concerned, he didn't seem particularly perturbed by the arrangement. His blase reaction was indicative of either his indifference, or his knowledge that in the end, they'd probably end up together.

 _Could I love him if that meant leaving someone else I potentially also love?_

Petra tried not to interrogate herself. After all, wasn't avoiding questions one of the reasons why she was taking a break from Lionel?

When Petra turned back to look at him, she stared at him for a brief second. He was too busy following the lecture to notice her gaze, and she took the opportunity to study him. His dark raven hair, which was effortlessly tousled in a way that flattered his sharp jawline and features. The way his glasses rested slightly below the bridge of his nose, falling forward. How his clothing was wrinkled in all the right places. If she had to say anything on first impressions about her soulmate, it was that he was definitely not unattractive. She found herself getting lost in her thoughts, and it wasn't until he turned and met her eyes that she realized how long she had been staring. Her cheeks began to turn red, and she watched as he smirked at her, knowingly, then gave a small wink that made her melt a little. He looked as though he was about to mouth something to her, but she looked away before she could see whatever it was. She tried to turn back to her notes, but her cheeks still felt hot.

On the way out of the hall, she almost missed running in to him. Instead, he quite literally ran into her. He nudged his way through the crowd until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with her, his hand brushing against her purposefully as they walked together.

"You seemed distracted during the lecture," Levi started, smirking, his voice dripping with mirth. "Did you see something you liked?"

"Unfortunately not," Petra replied coldly, calmly avoiding his gaze. She could tell even without looking that he was amused by her charade. It was impossible to play games with your soulmate—especially when they knew that you were the one.

He was silent for a bit, and for a second Petra wasn't sure if he was just thinking about a response or if, somehow, she had defeated him in two words. They walked side by side, the crowd trickling away around them as others split up to go to their next classes.

"Well," Petra said, prepared to send him away. But before she could continue, Levi's hand circled her waist to her lower back, and his other hand cupped her cheek. Levi pulled her flush against him, and before she could say anything, his lips met hers, and she melted into his touch.

He held her close, as he continued with his urgent, open mouthed kisses, a sign, if anything, that he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon. And even though she'd been reluctant, and cold even at first, she found herself running her hands up his hard chest, letting herself fall into his arms. Her heart raced, and she let herself enjoy this.

He pulled away too soon, and she let out a groan of annoyance before she could stop herself, making Levi raise an eyebrow and smirk again. God, that smirk. She wanted to wipe it off his face.

Petra found herself standing upright again, Levi's arms to his side, and for a split second, she was tempted to pull him back by the collar of his shirt and start unbuttoning it right then and there.

Levi ran his thumb over his lips, making her want to strangle him, and he gave an amused smile. "I'm sorry you didn't see something you liked during the lecture. Maybe later today?"

"Tonight?"

"No, like another lecture."

"Right."

* * *

Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing and reading! Depending, I might continue writing drabbles for this Soulmate AU verse :)


	4. I want the K — Forceful Kiss

**"I want the K" — Forceful Kiss**

 _From my Tumblr Account._

"She's a bit delirious," Hanji said, walking Levi down the row of beds in the infirmary. "She's on some really strong antibiotics. Something about the aberrant that bit her…" Her voice trailed off once they reached her bed, Petra laid out, breathing softly as she slept.

A fine sheen of sweat covered her face and forehead, and every so often, her eyebrows would knit from pain and she'd let out a soft moan. Levi watched her, expressionless, trying to ignore how much paler, how much smaller, how much weaker she looked when tucked under the white sheets of the infirmary bed. The edge of the white sheet would crinkle every so often, indicating that she would fist up the fabric in her hand.

He walked over, almost hesitantly, and Hanji watched as he lifted his hand, his knuckles pressed against her forehead, feeling her temperature. She'd known him for years, but this had been Levi's first real squad. He cared for them. A lot. And she'd long since suspected he cared in particular for Petra.

"A nurse comes by every half hour or so," Hanji said, clearing her throat, bringing him out of his thoughts. He glanced up at her, somber, waiting to hear the words he'd been expecting since he'd brought her to the medics' cart during the expedition.

"It's bad, Levi."

He listened to her, only catching half of what she said. Even so, he held on to the last words she said before she left the room.

 _She might not make it_.

Levi kicked a stool over so he could sit next to her. He took the cloth from the cart beside her, soaking it in the small bowl of water beside her bed, and used it to wipe gently at her forehead. And with his other hand, he laced his fingers with hers, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Hey, you," Petra whispered, waking up. She squinted to look up at Levi's face. Her voice was hoarse, and it sounded as if even saying those two words had already taxed her. She forced a smile, but Levi couldn't find it in him to smile back. Hanji's words repeated in his mind. _She might not make it._

She raised her hand to touch his face, the pads of her fingers brushing lightly against his cheek as she reached to brush away some stray strands of hair.

"I heard Hanji say…" She paused, swallowing her saliva, thick from the mucus. "This… this one is bad."

He pressed a kiss to her lips. It wasn't soft, not like the ones he'd give her in the mornings to wake her up, or the ones behind the stables when the rest of the team had gone back to the castle. It was a kiss meant to stop her from talking, to convey a message. That not surviving wasn't an option. He needed her. It was a reminder.

* * *

 _Accepting requests!_


	5. Whale Watching

_Modern AU — 3349 Words_

* * *

It wouldn't have been worth it to cancel the honeymoon reservations, is what Levi had told Hanji when he asked her to come with him to Puget Sound. It had been three months since his fiancée called off the marriage, and Hanji still wasn't completely sure if he had healed from the hurt. She'd spent the past weeks occupying his time, watching him endure her company, and making sure he didn't dissolve from malnutrition and neglect. So Hanji had been everything short of surprised when he'd revealed that he hadn't cancelled the reservations for his honeymoon.

"I'll pay for the extra room," Levi offered, not even looking up from his phone on the subway. "My treat." She could tell, despite his apparent indifference, that this was hard for him to ask her. After his fiancée got cold feet—months before the wedding, but also months after all the reservations had been made—Levi seemed to be filled with this unshakeable sense of doubt. She could see it in the way he phrased questions, or in the ways he reacted when she went to his apartment with Erwin (uninvited). She had expected it to make him only perhaps slightly more irritable, more inclined to flick her or scowl at Erwin, but somehow, he had almost become fragile.

* * *

"Give it time," Erwin had said when the two of them were sitting at their couch. "He hasn't dated a lot of people before, so this was a lot for him. It'll probably be a while before he can date someone again."

Hanji had nodded. Sometimes she forgot that Erwin had known Levi longer. "Our angry little baby got his heart broken," Hanji sighed, taking a sip from her glass of wine. Sitting there, her legs on Erwin's lap, the tv playing an episode of Westworld, Hanji wondered if this was what it had been like with Levi and his girlfriend. They hadn't seen much of her, in fact, when Levi had started dating her, they didn't see much of him either. It was almost as if by her coming into his life, he had been erased from theirs. But as much as it had bothered Hanji, she couldn't find it in herself to intervene, to feel anything but happiness for their friend when he casually told them that he was going to get married and if Erwin could be his best man and Hanji there for support.

"Did he love her?" Hanji had asked.

Erwin looked over at her. "Maybe."

Now, on the subway ride from Chelsea, Hanji listened to Levi finally ask something of her—ask for help, for the first time since the wedding had been cancelled, and quite possibly the first time ever. For once, despite the apparent difficulty in asking, she could tell that he was certain about asking this.

"I thought we'd need a wedding before a honeymoon," Hanji said, smiling. "And of course I'd need to tell Erwin."

"I tried to just ask one thing, Shitty Glasses." Levi rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, only to be smothered by Hanji's overwhelming hug.

Stepping in to the entrance of the cottage inn, having hauled their luggages out of the taxi from the Seattle airport after their six hour flight from New York, Hanji began to wonder if this had been a bad idea. Levi looked almost immediately vexed when they entered the place, quickly hiding it behind his apathetic mask, but she hadn't missed what was probably him thinking about his ex-girlfriend.

"So rustic," Hanji cooed, admiring the memorabilia hanging around the walls of the cottage. "I always thought you were a city slicker," Hanji added, laughing at his scowl. "Nothing like your style."

"She liked whales," Levi said softly, and for a second, Hanji wished, for not the first time in her life, to have more of a filter on what she said. When Hanji looked over at him though, she didn't find the vaguely hurt expression that marred his face when he thought of her anymore. And stepping up to the desk to check-in, Hanji knew it had been the right choice to come here, and that Levi had already begun the slow process of healing.

As Levi went up to handle the reservations, Hanji settled herself into one of the stiff looking armchairs, gazing out at the water through the windows. She was surprised when she thought about how little she had really known about Levi's girlfriend. She never would've guessed that this was her perfect honeymoon spot. Glancing back at Levi, Hanji nearly fell out of her chair.

He was talking. To the pretty strawberry blonde receptionist. And not being a total dick. He was even making her smile, genuinely smile, and if she listened closely… it almost sounded like he was flirting. Hanji resisted the urge to immediately stand up and tackle him from excitement, and instead, she whipped out her phone, furiously texting Erwin about the first woman he was talking to in months.

"You were eyeing the receptionist," Hanji whispered in excitement, leaping up from her chair once he had pulled away from the desk, holding the keys and the ghost of a smile gracing his lips. She glanced back at Petra, the receptionist, only to receive a warm smile. "You were totally looking at her, that receptionist lady—

"—daughter of the innkeeper," Levi corrected.

"Whatever, but you were totally staring into those gorgeous, hazel eyes of hers."

"Fuck off," Levi replied back curtly, rolling his eyes. He started up the stairs, and when the two of them got to their respective rooms, he flipped the bird at her just to reaffirm his annoyance. But Hanji could tell that he was lacking his usual sting.

"No offense," Petra said, taking a seat next from him on the deck, overlooking the water. "But Puget Sound? For a honeymoon?"

"How'd you know?" Levi asked, glancing over at her.

"Hanji told me," she replied back, folding her shoeless feet under herself.

Levi had learned not to feel defensive or pitiful anymore when people found out that he'd almost been left waiting at the altar. He was surprised by the lack of pity tingeing Petra's voice and he decided to humor her. "Well what," Levi said with a sigh, staring blankly back at her. "You disturb my peaceful dusk viewing of the water and you don't appreciate our business?"

She laughed lightly, and he was almost surprised that his curtness didn't send her running off. "Something about you sitting here just looked so sad," Petra poked, grinning at him. "I couldn't just watch you sit here alone like you're some ninety year old woman remembering her glory days."

Levi listened to her laugh, and he discovered it was something he liked making her do. Petra smiled back at him again. "Don't be stupid. I just meant, don't people usually… I don't know. Go to Paris? Or Rome? Or Hawaii?"

"I get it," he rolled his eyes. "Unconventional."

Petra let out an mm-hm, and went back to her tea, enjoying the scowl that had graced his face in annoyance. It was almost sort of attractive, the way the deeply set lines complemented his face.

"Why didn't you get married," Petra asked, staring back at him, trying to gauge his reaction. From what Hanji had told her the other night, it had seemed like a pretty rough time, but she couldn't help herself from asking. Something about him, something about the way she was drawn to him, made her need to ask.

"I think the way she put it was that," Levi began, talking with surprisingly little to no resentment, "Was that I 'was too much a part of the urban machine that had swept her up and stalled her from doing what she really wanted to do.'"

"Harsh," Petra said, visibly wincing.

"Yeah, well, she kind of was too." Levi was surprised himself that he'd openly admitted that, and thinking back on it, he recalled all the times he had gone to Erwin, on the verge of revealing the violent verbal fights that went on in their apartment after dinners and in the mornings when they woke up. It felt relieving to finally hear the words come out of his mouth. He knew Hanji, as annoying as she was, would've been proud to have heard him talk about it.

"And when you need marriage counseling before you get married," Levi added more softly, "You realize that maybe things aren't going to work out."

He turned towards her, caught by the way she stared at him with something he couldn't quite make out, and he wondered what it was about her that had immediately drawn him to her.

"It wasn't meant to be," he added finally, swallowing thickly, quickly turning his face back towards the water and the horizon in front of them.

"Yeah." Petra replied back, looking ahead.

One week in to their three week stay, Levi had befriended the bright girl who worked at the inn. A few years out of college, after abandoning her job as a copyeditor at a publishing house in Portland, she'd come back North to stay and work with her father at his inn as he got older.

"I dated the guy who used to come and bring packages here," she admitted to Levi over breakfast one morning. "Pickings get to be kind of slim around here." She smiled, as if recalling the memory fondly, and she sipped from her tea.

Petra had made it a habit of sitting with Levi while he took breakfast. He always seemed to time out when he would roll out of bed and stumble into the dining room for breakfast. Either long before or right after the morning rush, when most of the cold nipped tourists would settle in to have eggs benedict and some toast, hunched over their cups of hot coffee. He would come down at a time just convenient enough so that Petra wouldn't have to give an extra hand anywhere else in the inn so that she could sit across from him, and relish in a warm cup of tea on a brisk February morning.

Guests came in and out of the inn, as was expected. Students, sometimes, from Seattle, who would come for the weekend. Elderly couples. But Levi and Hanji were stuck at the inn longer than anyone else because of the long honeymoon reservations (the honeymoon part which he'd told the inn would no longer be happening).

"It's all part of the job," Petra said, smiling. "We don't always get a lot of young people around my age, so, it suck sometimes. But old people, young people, families—they're always fun."

"Count me as a friend around your age then, Ral?" Levi asked, raising a brow over his breakfast plate.

"In the same way that I would count my grandmother a friend," Petra replied cheekily.

"Tch," Levi scoffed. "You wish you had a grandmother as cool as me."

Petra laughed, and Levi watched the way her smile transformed her entire face, making it even brighter than usual. He got distracted by her expression of pure joy, he didn't notice the stocky guys who had come up by their table. Petra talked with them, acting just as friendly and welcoming with them as she was with Levi, and he felt a gnawing sense of annoyance the longer the conversation went on. She chatted, flirting occasionally—or maybe that's just how she always was—but he could tell she had charmed the two guys and it made him want to do something stupid when they finally walked away.

"Finally some young people around your age?" Levi asked mockingly, repeating her words from before.

"You're just upset that I'm getting more attention," Petra said, grinning wickedly as she sipped from her mug. Levi rolled his eyes, refusing to admit that maybe he was jealous that those guys had come up to them and flirted with Petra.

"Be quiet," he shot back, his tone lacking any of the usual venom he reserved for Hanji and Erwin.

"Make me."

Levi glanced back at her, wondering how livid she would be if he kissed her. But instead, he rolled his eyes, running his hand through his hair. "I'm a paying guest at this establishment," Levi responded back. "I'd like not to be bothered during my breakfast, lest I complain to the innkeeper," then, pointedly Levi added, "Your boss."

"Oh my god you're such a prick," Petra tried to hide her smile, leaning towards him from across the table. "Maybe you really are like an old person. Should I make you oatmeal instead? With peaches?"

"Are you trying to berate oatmeal?"

Petra stopped short of a reply when she spotted Hanji entering the room. Waving happily at her, inviting her over to their table, Petra smiled back at Levi, almost laughing when she noticed his alarmingly vexed expression. "I think these tables are for paying guests of this establishment only," Petra grinned, enjoying the way he looked as if he was on the verge of responding with some dry sarcasm. "I better get going."

She smiled and greeted Hanji as she stood up, offering her her seat, and walked out of the dining room towards the beach outside, Levi's eyes fixed on her the whole time.

"You know," Hanji said, punching him in the shoulder. "Puget Sound isn't the only view here." She let out a low whistle, and Levi resisted the urge to throw a plate at Hanji. So instead, he kicked her under the table.

* * *

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Levi snarled into his pillow, wondering what was causing the commotion outside his room, and what could possibly merit getting woken up at the crack of dawn. He heard what sounded like Hanji screaming from the room connected to his, and he knew that she, just like him, was pissed.

Throwing the covers off of the bed, he slipped his sneakers on and went out into the hallway, milling around with the other twenty or so guests rooming at the resort on the coast of the sound.

When Levi got to the dock off the inn's beach, he saw Petra standing alone, watching the water intently. Under his sleepy gaze and muddied thoughts, he was half tempted to go over to her and wrap his arms around her waist as a greeting. She turned around, her hair pulled up in a bun, a jacket thrown hastily over her shirt and sweatpants, and when she spotted him, she grinned madly.

"Come here!" She called out, bounding over to him and pulling him by the arm to the dock, still hopping around. "I can't believe it!" Petra stomped her feet into the dock, clapping wildly, and Levi failed to understand where all of this energy so early in the morning could be coming from.

"What." Levi asked, pulling the drawstrings to his sweatshirt's hood tighter, hoping maybe that it would smother him and passing out would give him an excuse to go back to his room.

"Just," Petra could hardly say any words, and as the other guests surrounded them on the narrow dock, she simply pointed out towards the water. "Just, look."

Her voice dropped to a whisper, and in a brief, still moment of silence, the air was broken by the cresting sound of water and crisp droplets hitting the surface. And Levi watched as three whales broke out of the placid surface of the water, the sound breaking the early morning stillness, and crashing back into the water, as if having announced the beginning of the day and doing away with the peace of the dawn.

"Whales, Levi." she whispered, wrapping her hands tighter around his upper arm. Levi watched in amazement at the place where the whales had just been, none of the guests talking as the group was collectively filled with awe.

"Whales," he repeated, feeling the warmth from her body radiate to him.

"They've never been this close to the docks," she whispered, her excitement mingled with awe.

"It's incredible," she added, letting out a soft, breathy laugh that formed a white cloud in the brisk morning air. And when Levi looked down at Petra, following her line of sight back to the water where she stared with admiration and joy, he found himself placing his hand on the small of her back and pulling him closer to him.

"Yeah," he echoed. "incredible."

They sat on the beach together later that night, watching the way the moon reflected in the water, white rippling stripes. Petra leaned against his shoulder, then, as if changing her mind, she pulled quickly away. He gazed at her lazily as she settled into his lap, with her legs on either side of his body. She leaned into him, her lips brushing against the skin of his neck, and he held her against her, hugging her close. He breathed in the scent of her hair—clean, lemons—and the fresh air of the sound. He was warm, he kept her from feeling cold, and she relished in how firm and sturdy he was, like she was safe from the elements in his arms.

She pulled back so that she could face him, staring at his sharp features. She brushed her button nose against his, her lips ghosting against his, and she closed her eyes when she felt him lean forward and part her lips with his own, soft. Wrapped around him, he held her, and she let herself be held.

* * *

"Third wheeling," Hanji said, rolling her suitcase through the sitting area on the first floor. "And here I was," she said, turning and smiling at the sight of Levi and Petra, "thinking I was going to be the replacement on a honeymoon. But I guess honeymoons are a sham."

Levi held Petra closely to him, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him so that there was no space between them. She buried her face into his chest and shoulder, taking in his scent, trying not to forget him.

"You have my number," Levi started quietly, speaking against the shell of her ear. But Petra shook her head softly, not removing her face from his sweater, and he understood what she was trying to say. They couldn't just keep dating while she was in Puget Sound and he was in New York.

But he wanted to so badly. He couldn't remember the last time he had fallen so quickly, heads over heels, for anyone. So he tried to pull her even closer, trying to remember everything about her.

"Then just come to New York," he whispered through her hair.

"Or you could come watch the whales with me in the mornings," Petra whispered against his chest.

He brought his hand up to cradle her head, running his fingers through the strands of her golden hair. "Stay with me," he whispered again, trying to insist. Petra pulled away, looking up to smile at him, to hold his face in her hands and smile at him.

"I want to more than the world." She ran her thumb across his cheek, leaning in to kiss him under his jaw, keeping him close.

"Then call me," he whispered, his gaze soft and full of something Petra couldn't quite describe, or was hesitant to name. She nodded, feeling the soft press of his forehead against her own.

"Okay."


End file.
